In an effort to help Utah first-time home buyers afford homes and encourage home builders to continue building, the Utah legislature has approved a bill that would set aside $50 million for first-time buyers of new construction homes.
Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, sponsored the bill because he said it’s high time Utah “reinvent” a first-time homebuyer program that the state first started back in the ’90s.
“We’re losing our middle class,” Adams told reporters in a media availability earlier this month, adding that Utah shouldn’t address affordable housing by only building multifamily rental units. “We need to get people out of their apartments (and) into homes.”
The bill would use $50 million in state money to offer an up to $20,000 loan to eligible homebuyers to help them buy new homes, whether that’s for down payment assistance, closing costs or buying down their interest rates.
State officials estimate it would help about 2,500 buyers. The program would be administered through the Utah Housing Corporation.
